I long to know a lot of things

I long to know a lot of things.
With curiosity I'm cursed;
But teacher tells me that I must
Complete my education first. - Rebecca McCann

Yup.

The little verse and Calvin strip above perfectly illustrate why I was much happier as a school librarian than I was as a classroom teacher.  In my seven years as an English teacher, I don't know that I ever encountered a student who really wanted to read Lord of the Flies or write a five-paragraph expository paper. Perhaps there are some out there, but the best I expected and got from kids was quiet acquiesce, an understanding that learning the mandated curriculum was a hoop through which one must jump to get to one's third year of college when the course work became meaningful and relevant.

But the library was different. Yes, kids used it to meet classroom requirements, but we pre-Internet subversive librarians also made sure the collection included resources on topics that we knew kids loved - sports and romance and science fiction and pop culture. As a librarian, I worked with kids who actually enjoyed learning.

There are, of course, genius classroom teachers who have always found clever ways to personalize the standard curriculum and experience the joy of working with willing readers, writers, researchers, and creators. Somehow we need to help every classroom teacher acquire this ability.

Or make the whole school a library.

Comments

[Kate W]

I just got told I am not to purchase any materials that do not directly support the curriculum. I'm not sure how that means kids will feel about visiting the library. I'm not sure why anyone who feels the library should be limited to what is studied in the classrooms should be an administrator. But there we are, time to haul out the ol' resume.

[Doug Johnson]

Hi Katie,

I hope you share the research on the effectiveness of Voluntary Free Reading by Krashen and others before you leave these poor students. Give it a good fight. Or be subversive and do what is right, not what is requested ;-)

Doug

[Kate W]

I appreciate your advice, Doug. Frankly, this directive is coming from Central Office, where an administrator with no experience of school librarians has been actively working for two years to stop librarians from purchasing anything. Money is power, I suppose. And smart women are threatening. I wish I had anything left in me to fight, but being subversive because I cannot ethically limit the available materials in the library is my only option at the moment, I think.

[priyaa]

where an administrator with no experience of school librarians has been actively working for two years to stop librarians from purchasing anything. Money is power, I suppose. And smart women are threatening